Malacca was always a frontier in the exploits of Portuguese expansion in Asia. This side of the Strait, reality daily acquired other contours and atmospheres. This difference in ways of living also showed itself in communication, even at its most fundamental level: the language.
In the countries of the Indian Ocean, Arabic and even Hebrew were frequently the lingua franca of trade and diplomacy. In the Far East, as in America, the Portuguese came across cultures enclosed within their own languages in places where there was no mutual understanding of a common language.
Although it was the Malays and Sino-Malays who most often acted as linguistic mediators, this solution was not only impractible in day-to- day terms but also constituted a risk when handling more delicate matters as each mediator could be a starting point for intrigue or the source of leaks of confidential information.
It was above all in this area of diplomatic relations that the need to train local interpreters was seen to be essential. Relations with the Mandarin authorities and with the Court of the Celestial Empire were necessary by virtue of Macau's complex diplomatic status which wavered between competing powers, each one speaking its own language and employing rigidly established formalities and etiquette.
It was necessary to give assistance to Portugal, providing support for the delegations of the Portuguese State within the framework of its diplomatic or para-diplomatic relations with China; on the other hand, it became imperative to create conditions for a more efficient dialogue between the Portuguese authorities in Macau and the provincial and district Imperial authorities of China.
In this respect the figure of the "jurubaça", or interpreter, played a central part; not forgetting, in the sphere of knowledge of the rites and rituals of the Court, the role of the Jesuits, promoted to Imperial scholars in Peking.
To begin with, on the level of internal relations between the Portuguese Administration and the local community the problems posed by bilingualism were much attenuated by the duality of personal statutes. As the Chinese were subject to the rule of the neighbouring Mandarin, their legal and administrative contacts with the Portuguese authorities were practically non-existent. When there was a need for communication between the two communities it was generally due to business deals between private individuals, although this usually took place without the knowledge of the Administration.
In 1849, during Ferreira do Amaral's governorship Macau's political statute underwent far-reaching changes - as is well known - bringing an end to the system of divided sovereignty and extending Portuguese jurisdiction to all the population of the territory.
On the plane of political and administrative communication this posed an acute new problem: how to ensure communication between the Portu guese Administration and the Cantonese-speaking population in daily administrative and legal affairs. Not to mention, in addition, the question of communication in Mandarin, and in accordance with the prescribed rites with the Imperial authorities.
In concrete terms, the novelty of the situation after 1849 lay in the fact that what took place was the political integration of a community which in its cultural and, above all, linguistic expressions maintained its duality. However, this integration was achieved in such a way that the validity of the Chinese community's legal customs and practices was still recognised.
After 1877, the Portuguese Administration, albeit under the form of a special court, began to settle disputes which members of the Chinese community decided to place before it. And it also became empowered, naturally enough, to punish those Chinese who broke Portuguese penal laws.
This situation gave rise, as already mentioned, to a new and urgent problem: communication on a political, administrative and legal level between the Chinese population and the Portuguese Administration, the more so as the latter, in keeping with a trend shown in all European colonial policies, was progressively widening its area of intervention.
Therefore, in 1865, bearing in mind the situation in the city of Macau, the frequent relations its authorities had with the Chinese Empire and the particularity of population, the Minister responsible for Overseas and Naval Affairs, the Marquis of Sá da Bandeira, decreed the creation: of a body of Chinese language interpreters, able to carry out whatever duties might be considered necessary.
This body consisted of a Grade I interpreter, a Grade II interpreter and two student interpreters. The students were to receive a monthly subsidy of not less than 20$000 and not more than 30$000 "reis" each, and in exchange were to: act in the legal office or in the secretariat of the government of Macau. The existence of students within the body of interpreters shows that this group already included the beginnings of a School of Translators.
But a school for Chinese interpreters and for the study of the characters of the Chinese language and of the Cantonese dialect, for civil servants in Macau wishing to receive such qualifications was only formally set up by a Budget Decree dated the 22nd of July 1905, although it is doubtful whether this Decree produced any tangible results. Indeed, in 1914, when the first Portuguese Republic was already well established, a decree by the then Minister for the Colonies re-established the creation of the School, again speaking in terms of the future, that: a Chinese language school will be attached to the Chinese Affairs Department and will be accommodated in that same Department to train young people in the translation and interpretation of the Chinese language (article 19).
From that date onwards it is certain that the school did, in fact, exist, providing a five-year course for Grade II translators-interpreters, followed by a three-year course for Grade I translators-interpreters.
The most important objective of the Grade II translator-interpreter course was the basic learning of the Chinese language, both written and spoken, and of enough background knowledge of Chinese geography, history, politics and etiquette to provide the foundations for admittance to the Grade I translator-interpreter course.
Regarding the programme of this course, reference should be made to the attention given to Chinese philosophy, students being assessed on their knowledge of Confucius (the 4 texts) and post-Confucian thinking (Mencius in particular).
Great attention was paid to another element traditionally decisive in Luso-Chinese relations which was the etiquette and rituals officially in use in China and also the study of the so-called "Unequal Treaties" signed between China and the Western powers after the Opium Wars, not forgetting, of course, the 1887 Luso-Chinese treaty. All this proves that the courses taught were aimed at training higher officials who could be employed in diplomatic relations; this was shown, in fact, by the very Regulations of the Chinese Affairs Department in which the School was located, regulations which clearly expressed as one of the School's aims the need to: supply Chinese translators and interpreters to the Portuguese legation in Peking and to the Portuguese consulates in Canton and Shanghai (article 2, n° 2).
The fact was, however, that from the very start of the school there was an endemic scarcity of students. With the exception of 1925 when 7 students were registered, the school never had more than an average of 4 students per year.
The most noteworthy of these was Luiz Gonzaga Gomes, well known for his dedication to the study of Chinese culture and the translator of sources which were inaccessible to non-bilingual researchers.
Curiously enough, Luiz Gonzaga Gomes was never a brilliant pupil. Having finished the Grade II translator and interpreter course, Gonzaga Gomes registered in the Grade I translator and interpreter course in the 1930/31 academic year, and obtained a final "pass" classification in the first two years. In the third and final year, however, with poor results in the written and spoken Chinese language tests, he was failed by the examining board. Nevertheless, this failure was not officialised in view of the opinion issued by the Government's Legal Consultant who, having been asked to interpret the school's Regulations, considered that the board should alter its position: so that the student's grades in French and English be considered in calculating the final average mark, although these subjects were considered subsidiary to the Course Curriculum. It was hardly a peaceful process, however: Jack Braga, one of the members of the jury, said that: it appeared to him that the Regulations required that the examinee have perfect knowledge of the Chinese language, but that he accepted the interpretation of the said Regulations provided by Higher Offices; another member of the jury, António Ferreira Batalha, made it quite clear that: in all conscience, and having examined the student, he ought to fail him, in view of the tests made, because he is of the opinion that the knowledge of the Chinese language is an essential condition for the technical qualifications of translators and interpreters. Nevertheless, as an obedient civil servant, he bowed to superior orders.
Consequently, Luiz Gonzaga Gomes was awarded a final pass mark.
Despite this, Luiz Gonzaga Gomes' strict and methodical studies, his personal resolute commitment and his persevering self-education enabled him to expand greatly the knowledge required by the school. He was to become not merely the translator and interpreter but the sinologist, decoder and revealer of some of the mystery of Chinese sensibility, and the scholar of essential sources for a fuller understanding of the historical process of Macau, as shown by the diversified character of his many publications.
The determination to provide auxiliary staff to help the Portuguese diplomatic missions - besides, obviously, helping all provincial civil service departments in their relations with the Chinese - must have been one of the factors explaining the progress shown by the school in the years following the war.
In fact, the political convulsions of the forties and later the non-recognition of the People's Republic of China, greatly reduced the importance of relations with China and therefore reduced the promise of the future of translators and above all of the specialised scholars.
So, after 1944, the school no longer attracted students and did not manage to recruit even the 4 students which had been the average annual intake since the beginning of the century and for 17 years (!), there were no registrations at all.
This situation remained unaltered until the 70's, when attendance improved to the extent that the school regained its initial importance and after 1976 became a Technical College. However, it was the 1986 reform which was to give rise to the social and professional demand this institution has since felt.
This high number of students at the school is evidently related to the increased job opportunities for bilingual citizens which are normal for the times the Territory is experiencing, as well as a new economic boost, restoration of diplomatic relations with China and a transition period in which cultural and linguistic dualism is expressly guaranteed in the Joint Luso-Chinese Declaration.
However, the school's reform in 1986 made a happy choice in its response to this need to contribute to the safeguard of Macau's dual cultural identity. Attention must be drawn in this area to the increased curricular weight of markedly cultural subjects, such as the History of Portugal, the History of China and the History of Macau, capable of providing students with the civilisational context supporting the practice of communication between people.
* Degree in History from the University of Coimbra; Professor, Researcher on the History of Macau
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